Church Services

[sbkline]

We attend mass at Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine every time we vacation at Walt Disney World. Our family adheres faithfully to the traditions and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and we have found the liturgies at the Shrine to fulfill all of our expectations. In fact, they do solicit donations, though, in contrast to some others, I have not found their requests to be in any way obtrusive. The priests who began the ministry of serving Orlando's tourists by, among other things, holding regular Sunday mass at the Polynesian Resort, have built that incredible Shrine from the ground through the generous contributions of its visitors. Instead of obsequious participation in an offensive practice of religious bribery, I consider such generosity on the part of the donors and such commitment on the part of the Shrine's adminstrative and support staff admirable.

Orlando, one of our nation's greatest shrines to consumption and frivilous consumerism now has a Shrine to the Mother of Christ, "...a temple, a sacred place to give glory to God and to honor our mother." (Quote taken from the Shrine's website.) Though I found the services at the Polynesian quaint, sincere, and homey, and while the nostalgic part of me misses them a bit, I find the sentiments expressed in the mission of the Shrine far more inspiring than the meager tradition embodied in holding mass in a empty Luau restaurant.

On related notes: The last couple of masses I attended featured very uplifting and less than beggarly homilies; the Shrine falls under the auspices of the Diocese of Orlando and its services and sacraments are thus very much valid and within the norms of the Roman Catholic Church; and, to my Methodist brother, Mary's Queenship represents an honorary title given her in return for the immeasurable blessing she brought to all mankind by her faithful act of complete trust and self giving by carrying Our Lord into the physical universe as His Mother, and is distinct from the Kingship of Jesus Christ, which is eternal, unearned, and absolute.

http://www.maryqueenoftheuniverse.org/history.html

Thanks for the clarification. As I said before, I was only going by what I read in that book, and I should know better by now than to blindly accept someone else's review at face value without researching and/or experiencing things for myself. Since all I have to go by is what I read in that book, I can neither agree with nor refute what you have posted. All I can do is log away the fact that I have seen two totally different reviews by different individuals and, since I will never see it for myself, I guess it is kind of irrelevant. :wave:

And, regarding that Virgin Mary thing, that issue has been hotly disputed for 500 years between Catholics and Protestants so I don't expect that there will be a sudden, miraculous consensus here on the WDW message boards. :lol:

 

[ConstanceIrene]

Thanks for the clarification. As I said before, I was only going by what I read in that book, and I should know better by now than to blindly accept someone else's review at face value without researching and/or experiencing things for myself. Since all I have to go by is what I read in that book, I can neither agree with nor refute what you have posted. All I can do is log away the fact that I have seen two totally different reviews by different individuals and, since I will never see it for myself, I guess it is kind of irrelevant. :wave:

And, regarding that Virgin Mary thing, that issue has been hotly disputed for 500 years between Catholics and Protestants so I don't expect that there will be a sudden, miraculous consensus here on the WDW message boards. :lol:

You are, of course, welcome to visit anytime you'd like.

 

[sbkline]

You are, of course, welcome to visit anytime you'd like.

I know. But like I said, I'm of Methodist upbringing, so that wouldn't be my choice of church. We have never stayed on property before, so when we have gone, we stayed on Vine St in Kissimmee and went to the Kissimmee Free Methodist Church, which is just a block or so away from the Super 8 that we have stayed at. Even though it's a little farther away from the WDW property (and we will be staying on property next time), we still plan to go to that church when we go in April. :wave:

 

[jmani56]

Thank you for knowing your faith DocandSix. For the record, the Catholic Church condemned the sale of indulgences well before Martin Luther came along. What individual members of the Church do does not constitute Church teaching. If a teacher at your child's school does drugs, does that mean that the entire teaching staff also does, and that the school teaches drug use as acceptable?

The Shrine is definitely part of the Diocese, and solicites no more than any other church, Catholic or Protestant. The Shrine gets no money from the Diocese; it was and is being built solely on the donations of tourists. If that shrine was not there, it would have made my college program a lot harder. The liturgies are very solid, and Confession is available all day, every day. It is a real blessing to have that Shrine there. If I am not mistaken, Disney does offer transportation to the Shrine, but I would have to check on that.

Thank you again DocandSix for clearing up misconceptions that we worship Mary. We do not. She is however, Queen of the Universe and our Mother (Rev 12). Thank you for also clearing up misconceptions about the Mass being another "church service". It is not a church service.

sbkline, if you'd like to take this discussion further outside of this forum, please instant message me on my AIM screenname, which is in my profile. This is not the place for religious debate, so please don't take shots at people's faith without knowing what you are getting into. And for the record, I think Martin Luther is spinning in his grave over many things, none of them Catholic.

Now lets get back to Disney discussion.

 

[sbkline]

sbkline, if you'd like to take this discussion further outside of this forum, please instant message me on my AIM screenname, which is in my profile. This is not the place for religious debate, so please don't take shots at people's faith without knowing what you are getting into. And for the record, I think Martin Luther is spinning in his grave over many things, none of them Catholic.

No worries; I was not attempting to start any religious debate. I know this isn't the place for such discussion, not to mention the fact that, in the past, I have participated in such discussions in another messageboard and I get too involved and end up spending much more time in front of the computer than I should, or that I even planned on. :lol:

My post in which I mentioned the Virgin Mary issue being debated for centuries, that was my way of saying that I'm not about to attempt a debate on that issue here, just in case you wondered. I come here to kick back and relax and enjoy discussing WDW, not argue religion. :wave: And, my most recent post before this one, kind of was in getting this thread back on track. That Free Methodist Church isn't on WDW property, but for those who aren't satisfied with whatever it is they offer there and who might lean towards that persuasion, that is a church for them to consider. They don't have service until 11 AM, so that gives plenty of time to sleep in a little and get ready before going.

btw, I'm not looking to offend anyone here and I apologize if I did.

 

[jmani56]

Thanks skbline.

 

[lentesta]

Hi folks,

I wrote this particular part of the Guide. I was wrong in saying that the Shrine is not part of the diocese - it is. To be fair, I asked that particular question to one of the ushers during my visit, and that's the response I got. I should have, however, checked his answer.

Choice of religious services is a purely personal matter. I'm sure there are many folks who get a great deal of spiritual fulfilment from the Shrine, and that's the result that matters for them.

Our review of the Shrine came after a number of complaints, over several years, from Unofficial Guide readers about the fundraising techniques employed there. I don't recall that we ever received similar comments regarding any other religious service in the Orlando area. This doesn't mean that you won't get something out of the service - again, many people love the Shrine. Given the amount of negative feedback we received from readers, however, we thought the review was needed.

The advice I should have given - and would, if we still covered this topic - is to check with your local house of worship on an appropriate similar location in Orlando.

Hope this helps.

Len

 

[sbkline]

Hi folks,

I wrote this particular part of the Guide. I was wrong in saying that the Shrine is not part of the diocese - it is. To be fair, I asked that particular question to one of the ushers during my visit, and that's the response I got. I should have, however, checked his answer.

Choice of religious services is a purely personal matter. I'm sure there are many folks who get a great deal of spiritual fulfilment from the Shrine, and that's the result that matters for them.

Our review of the Shrine came after a number of complaints, over several years, from Unofficial Guide readers about the fundraising techniques employed there. I don't recall that we ever received similar comments regarding any other religious service in the Orlando area. This doesn't mean that you won't get something out of the service - again, many people love the Shrine. Given the amount of negative feedback we received from readers, however, we thought the review was needed.

The advice I should have given - and would, if we still covered this topic - is to check with your local house of worship on an appropriate similar location in Orlando.

Hope this helps.

Len

Thanks for the clarification. :wave: I continue to be amazed at who I see popping up in these boards; Cast Members, big brass in the Disney Corporation and now, writers of the Unofficial Guide.

And once again, I should have taken the time to research matters for myself instead of blindly taking the word of something I read in a book, so I apologize for that. And, once again, I was not intending to come in here and belittle anyone's denominational preference, so if I gave that impression, I apologize for that as well.